Chua Mot Cot (One-pillar pagoda), a historic temple in Hanoi. The temple was built in 1049 by Emperor Ly Thai Tong. The temple was built of wood on a single stone pillar 1.25 m in diameter, and it is designed to resemble a lotus blossom, which is a Buddhist symbol of purity, since a lotus blossoms in a muddy pond. In 1954, the French Union forces destroyed the pagoda before withdrawing from Vietnam after the First Indochina War, It was rebuilt afterwards.